Members of the 436th Airlift Wing board a C-17 Globemaster III March 2, 2013, on the flightline at Dover Air Force Base, Del. More than 250 members of the 436th AW participated in an Operational Readiness Exercise Mar. 2-8. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Jeanette Spain)

Airman 1st Class Moses McDonald, right, of the 436th Security Forces Squadron, stands guard at a flight line entry control point Mar. 5, 2013, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. Over 400 Team Dover members from the 436th and 512th Airlift Wings participated in the joint Operational Readiness Exercise March 2-8. (U.S. Air Force photo/Roland Balik)

Members of the 436th Airlift Wing outprocess in preparation for deployment as part of an exercise Mar. 2, 2013, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. Over 400 members of the 436th and 512th Airlift Wings participated in a joint Operational Readiness Exercise Mar. 2-8. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Jeanette Spain)

Airman 1st Class Andrew Basler, of the 436th Security Forces Squadron, stands guard in the turret of a Humvee Mar. 5, 2013, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. More than 250 members from the 436th Airlift Wing participated in the joint Operational Readiness Exercise March 2-8, at Dover AFB. (U.S. Air Force photo/Roland Balik)

The ORE evaluated the wing's ability to respond to accidents, disasters, increased states of readiness and deployments in support of worldwide contingency operations. The wing was stressed in a short amount of time to see how well they would react to generating aircraft and preparing personnel and cargo processing for deployment.

Throughout the exercise, the wing responded to different scenarios from launching aircraft and aircrew to reacting to chemical and conventional attacks.

"The key is that we need to be able to keep our mission going forward even under disaster conditions," said Col. David Pollmiller, 436th Operations Group commander. "That was a major part of this exercise."

Tech. Sgt. Jason Pulido, 436th Comptroller Squadron quality assurance manager, said the ORE is important because it hones Airmen's skills in a deployed environment to make them successful in a worst-case scenario environment.

Over time, a lot of personnel in the wing change out through permanent change of station cycles. Pollmiller said as the base gets new personnel, it is important for the wing to be able to exercise, train together, and learn the skills that they don't use every day. Some of those skills are perishable.

"Watching our Airmen at work was very impressive," said Pollmiller. "The ability to bring everyone together in that plan and move them forward as a single unit is important to practice periodically."

During the redeployment phase of the exercise, Dover AFB encountered some unfriendly weather with cold temperatures, strong winds, and rain. Team Dover worked through the challenge to get the Airmen redeployed home and the cargo packaged.

Pollmiller said Team Dover learned some things which are expected when new people are added to the team.

"It doesn't always work exactly right every time," said Pollmiller. "I think as we find those weaknesses, it gives us an opportunity to fix them so we can get better for the next time or if we have to do it for real."